Defensive cage architectures in herbivore-driven ecosystems

Dense branching and spines are common features of plant species in ecosystems with high mammalian herbivory pressure. The combination of dense branching and spines is likely to produce the most effective herbivore defenses, ...

Global study: Wild megafauna shape ecosystem properties

For millions of years, a variety of large herbivores, or megafauna, influenced terrestrial ecosystems. Among many others, these included elephants in Europe, giant wombats in Australia, and ground sloths in South America. ...

New research reveals a fishing threshold for reef resilience

Coral reefs are the most biodiverse systems in the sea and central to the life of many coastal human communities. Half a billion people rely on coral reefs for protection from storms, provision of seafood as well as promotion ...

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Herbivore

Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs[page needed] such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in general are known as primary consumers. Comes from the Greek suffix "vora" (Greek -βόρα) meaning "which eat".[citation needed]

Herbivory usually refers to animals eating plants; fungi, bacteria and protists that feed on living plants are usually termed plant pathogens (plant diseases),and microbes that feed on dead plants are saprotrophs. Flowering plants that obtain nutrition from other living plants are usually termed parasitic plants.

A herbivore is not the same as a vegetarian, a human who voluntarily undertakes a primarily herbivorous diet.

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